


One rose at a time

by GalaxyPixel



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Flowers, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Oblivious Evan "Buck" Buckley, Sort Of, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, buck owns a flowershop, flowershop au, used a call from 2.01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyPixel/pseuds/GalaxyPixel
Summary: Buck owns a flower shop and when he meets Chris and his father Eddie, he is surprised. Eddie keeps buying him a rose every time he sees him, and Buck doesn't understand why. And he's also trying not to touch Eddie, because what if he's not his soulmate?!
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 232





	One rose at a time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PinkGold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkGold/gifts).



> This was written as a birthday fic for Angel, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I hope you like it. smushed all your favourite things together, xD  
> Big thanks to my friend Reaps who helped with beta reading this.  
> also soulmates in this have an identifying mark when you touch skin to skin it gets colours, bc before that its just black at the place you get touched.

Buck was looking forward to the end of his workday. It had been very boring with few customers, so he kept staring at the clock until he could close up and leave. Only half an hour left, that was close enough to closing time that he could start cleaning. He looked around to see where he’d left his broom when he heard the sound of the door open. He turned around to greet the customer, but his words got stuck in his throat. In front of him stood a beautiful man, he was stunned. He didn’t know people like this existed, it was almost too good to be true.

“Yes hello sir we want to buy some pretty flowers,” a small voice said from behind the hot man. Buck looked down and saw the cutest kid in existence stand in front of him, leaning on crutches. He crouched down and smiled.

“Of course little man, what are the flowers for? And do you have a colour in mind?”

“They’re for daddy’s coworker, miss Hen. She introduced him to Carla who’s watching after me and he wanted to say thank you.” The kid looked up at his dad, a question clearly on his mind. “Daddy, what’s miss Hen favourite colour?”

The man chuckled and ruffled the kid’s hair. “I don’t know bud. I’m sure anything we choose, she’ll love.”

“How about your own favourite colours, kid?” Buck asked the boy. His smile was contagious because Buck began smiling too, even if he almost never liked last-minute customers, he would make an exception for the kid and his (very hot) father.

“Okay. Then red. And yellow. My dad’s a firefighter and Miss Hen too, so it will be like firetruck colours!”

Buck grinned and stood up, looking the father in the eye. “Any special kind of flowers in mind? Or a budget?”

The father shook his head. “Surprise us, I’m sure it’ll be great. Sorry we’re so late, I saw you started to clean when we came in but my shift just ended, so I couldn’t come by earlier.”

Buck waved the worries of the man away while he started to pick some flowers to form a bouquet. “It’s fine. It was a slow day anyway, I don’t mind.”

The kid grabbed the attention of the dad, so Buck finished the bouquet in peace. When he was done he looked around and walked towards the father. “Hey, I have the bouquet done. Want it wrapped nicely?”

The man followed him to the register, when he told Buck he’d like it to be wrapped with a bow, Buck did exactly that. What he wasn’t ready for was the kid holding up a single rose.

“I want this one too please,” he said. 

Buck smiled and rang it up together with the bouquet, looking at the kid. “Really buddy? Nice choice.”

He gave the flowers to the father, still smiling. “Thanks for shopping here. I hope your coworker likes the flowers.”

“Thank you for being so nice. Chris, what did you want to do with the rose?” The father turned and looked at his kid. 

Chris smiled and held out the rose to Buck. “This is for you because you are so nice. I like you. I want to buy all our flowers here. And you work in a flower shop and deserve a flower for yourself. Daddy said this is the prettiest flower.”

Buck stared in shock at Chris and glanced at the hot father to see if it was okay. When the man nodded he took the rose and looked at Chris. “Thank you so much, Chris. I love it. And you’re right, I work in a flower shop but I don’t get many flowers. And my name is Buck, so you can just tell your father that next time you want to buy flowers here, okay?”

Chris nodded eagerly and waved to Buck, while he started to walk to the exit, careful his crutches wouldn’t land in the wet spots between the flowers. Buck turned to look at the father.

“Wow, thank you. You didn’t have to do that man.”

The father smiled. “It’s fine. Chris really wanted to give you a rose, so yeah. At least you’ll know how to take good care of it. And my name is Eddie, isn’t really fair I know yours and you know Chris’ name, but not mine.”

Eddie. Buck liked that name. He nodded. “That’s a nice name. Hope you have a good evening, and maybe we’ll see each other again.”

True to Buck’s words, he did see Eddie again. More than once, actually. The next time Eddie came in, he bought some flowers for a friend of his who ended up in the hospital. But, he also bought a rose again to give to Buck. Apparently, Chris liked Buck a lot and demanded of his father that he always bought Buck a rose every time he was in the shop. Eddie couldn’t say no, Buck always accepted the rose with a smile and red ears. He even got to meet Carla, Chris’ caretaker when Eddie was at work. A lovely woman, who didn’t buy a rose for him, even though Chris was with her when they stopped by. When he asked Chris about it, he was told that it was just for his dad to do, not for other people. This made Buck all warm inside, knowing that it was just Eddie who bought him a rose to give him. 

The concept of soulmates was always shoved to the back of his mind whenever Eddie came by. He didn’t want to think about how Chris’ mom had probably been Eddie’s soulmate, how he was all alone without one now. Buck still hadn’t met his, and as long as he didn’t have skin to skin contact with Eddie, he could pretend it was him. His mark was on his elbow anyway, so it wouldn’t be a big change it was one of the customers handing him money, or when he passed them the flowers. This didn’t mean he wasn’t careful handing Eddie things. He liked to keep the mystery there. He wasn’t ready for his bubble to be broken yet. For them to touch and realise that Eddie wasn’t his soulmate.

On his day off Buck was cycling through the neighbourhood, when he heard some screams from the park nearby. Always ready to help people in distress, he turned that way and jumped off his bike when he saw two guys sitting next to a guy with …. a microwave on his head? He walked to them, hoping he’d calm them down for when the LAFD would turn up.

“Hey, did you already call 911? What’s going on?”

“it was just for a video man! Now we can’t get it off, it’s cemented to his head! And call 911? Uh, no?”

Buck sighed and pointed to the guy who looked the least stressed. “Call 911, tell them we probably need the LAFD here, and explain calmly that we’re in the park next to the pond, don’t just say we’re in the park. Also, tell them what is happening.” He turned to the other guy and started to ask him his friend's name and if he had a screwdriver on him, “because then we can try to get the frame off for when the paramedics get here.”

Neither of them had a screwdriver or anything on them, so Buck decided to sit with them to wait. They didn’t have to wait long before they heard the sirens. He stepped to the side when he saw the paramedics arrive, he didn’t want to be in the way.

“Sir, did you have any help in this all?”

Buck turned around and stared into Eddie's face. The man was a firefighter, he knew this, Chris had told him. “Hey, Eddie. No, I was just cycling past it when I heard them scream. Was trying to find a screwdriver but nothing. Decided to stick around to keep them calm.”

“Smart move. We’ve got a screwdriver, so it’ll be fine.”

Eddie walked off, probably to get a screwdriver, which made Buck stare at his ass when he walked away from him. When he heard some screams he looked towards the microwave guy again and saw him side-step everyone and fall into the pond. Buck didn’t think, he stripped himself off his jacket and jumped into the pond. He knew from experience this pond was more of a small lake than a pond, and a microwave was heavy, so the guy started sinking fast. He grabbed onto the microwave and felt someone else help him. They got the guy towards the land and turned him around so the paramedics could make sure he wasn’t dying. 

Buck sat down and watched the firefighters drill into the cement after the frame was removed. When they got the guy out, he was alive and breathing. This was his signal to leave, his clothes were wet and he was starting to get cold. He grabbed his jacket and waved to Eddie when the man left with his team. When he put on his jacket, he saw a bruise form on his elbow. He shrugged it off, he’d probably bumped into something during the rescue, and started to grab his bike to go home.

A couple of days later the colour was still there on his elbow. He had realised it wasn’t just a bruise, but his soulmark, which meant he had had skin to skin contact in that place with his soulmate recently. It wasn’t there before the accident in the park, which meant it happened there or after that when it was covered by the bruise. On the other hand, his elbow had never hurt, which probably meant he met his soulmate in the park that afternoon. It couldn’t be one of the teens, they were dumb and way too young for him. So, someone of the LAFD it was. But he’d never find out who, because there were a lot of people around, brushing against him when he pulled the guy above water. Buck wasn’t just someone to go to the station and ask if someone else recently met their soulmate without realising it. 

So here he was, working in his store, knowing he had met his soulmate out there, but no idea who it was. He looked up when the door opened and he heard an enthusiastic voice yell: BUCKYYY.

“Hey Chris, what are you doing here?” He smiled at Carla, who followed Chris a little slower inside the store.

“We came to bring cookies! You helped save someone this week in the park. You deserve cookies for it.”

Buck looked from Chris to Carla, his eyes clearly stating he was confused because she nodded at him. “When Chris here heard from his dad what you did, he wanted to come over and give you some of the cookies we baked today. We couldn’t come earlier because of school, but here we are.”

“I chose the best cookies for you, Buck!”

Buck crouched down and smiled. “Wow, that’s so sweet of you. All because I helped someone in the park?”

Chris nodded and handed the container with homemade cookies to Buck. “Yeah! You jumped in the water to save them. Daddy jumped in after you, but you were really brave. You’re not even a firefighter and you did it!”

“I just wanted to help. But thank you, Chris, for these amazing cookies. I will definitely enjoy them.” 

“What’s that on your arm?” Chris asked, clearly having forgotten all about the cookies once he saw the soulmark on Buck his arm.

“Oh, that’s my soulmark. You know, the first place your soulmate touches you skin to skin.”

Chris looked slightly disappointed at that revelation. “Do you not like the idea of soulmates, Chris?”

Chris shook his head. “I like them. Do you know who it is?”

Buck shook his head. “It happened in the park, probably during the accident. But there were a lot of people so I have no idea who it is. I just hope I’ll see them again one day and just know.”

This answer cheered Chris up, he had a sparkle in his eyes that Buck knew meant he had a plan. “That’s cool! Daddy hasn’t met his soulmate yet either.”

Buck looked confused. “Your mom wasn’t his soulmate?”

“No, he said they just met one evening and kissed. And then I was born! So they decided to marry. They did love each other but not as much as soulmates would love each other. And then mom left and she died. Daddy found later that she never had a soulmate, which is very sad. So I am glad me and daddy loved her.”

Buck was shocked to hear the story from Chris. Eddie loved his late wife, but she wasn’t his soulmate. And she died. Poor Eddie. He hugged Chris close. “At least you still have your dad, right?”

Chris nodded and smiled. “And you!”

Buck chuckled and stood back up. He looked at Carla. “Was there anything you wanted from here?”

Carla started to shake her head, but Chris started nodding again. “We need to buy a rose, Carla.”

Carla looked confused. “I thought only your daddy could buy a rose for Buck?”

“The rose isn’t for Buck this time. It’s a secret.” He looked at Buck with the sweetest face ever and asked for the prettiest rose he had. “A rose you would give to your soulmate.”

“Oh? Planning on meeting your own soulmate today?”

Chris giggled. “Nooooo, I’m too young. Also, nobody has touched me there yet.”

Buck froze for a second before he grabbed the prettiest rose he could find. “Oh, where’s that?”

“My upper arm! So I think it’s someone who wants to grab me before I cross something dangerous without looking, thus saving me!”

Buck wrapped the rose in some nice foil and gave it to Carla. “That’s a wonderful thought, Chris. Well, have a nice day okay? Next time I see your dad I’ll tell him how those cookies were.”

Chris smiled and walked out of the store slowly, with Carla following behind.

Buck was too busy eating one of the cookies Chris had given him, that he didn’t notice there was a customer until they stood in front of him. He swallowed the cookie and looked up into brown eyes. When he took a step back to create some distance between him and the customer, he realised it was Eddie.

“Hey Buck,” Eddie smiled.

“Hey,” Buck smiled back. He should definitely get over his crush on this man, he had a soulmate out there in the city!

“Here, this is for you,” Eddie handed him the rose he had sold to Carla and Chris earlier this afternoon. He accepted it but looked at Eddie with some confusion. “For me? But, I just sold it to Chris and Carla this afternoon.”

Eddie nodded and took a deep breath. “I know, Chris wanted me to give it to you. Apparently, you met your soulmate in the park this week?”

Buck nodded. “Yeah. Don’t know who it is though, didn’t realise at that moment and have no idea how to ask all those people that were there: hey, are you maybe my soulmate?”

Eddie started to unbutton his blouse and pulled his left arm out of his sleeve. “I also met mine in the park. Look, my left arm has an entire stripe as if someone’s skin pulled past it.”

Buck stared in amazement and felt slightly jealous. Eddie also met his soulmate in the park, on the same day?! “Since we’re sharing, this is mine.” He held up his right arm, so Eddie could see the mark on his right elbow. 

“Perfect match,” Eddie traced the mark with his fingers. “So, want to go on a date with me tonight? For dinner? My abuela already wanted to watch over Chris. I heard from Carla you also already know the most important things about Shannon because Chris was in a sharing mood this afternoon, so there are no more important things you need to know before a first date.”

Buck looked confused. “What about your soulmate? Shouldn’t you have dinner with them? Why are you here with me?”

If eyes could fall out of people’s heads, Buck was sure Eddie’s eyes would have done that. He looked so surprised and confused at once that Buck felt the need to clarify it to him.

“I mean, you just told me you met your soulmate in the park. It’s not smart to ask me out on a friendly outing if you want to get to know your soulmate better. You should ask them on a date.”

“Please dear God why did I deserve this loving idiot,” he heard Eddie murmur. Buck looked even more confused and held the rose out to Eddie.

“You should give the rose to your soulmate too man. I chose the prettiest one as Chris asked. So you should give it to your soulmate, not the guy you want to befriend.”

“Buck, stop talking. Please.”

Buck held onto the rose and didn’t move when Eddie stepped closer and cupped his cheek. “You’re my soulmate, Buck. Nobody else in the team met their soulmate in the park. We both jumped into the pond to save that kid, our arms touched when we turned him over so he was lying on his back. I remember because I remember thinking that this touch would prove we weren’t soulmates, and that broke me. Because I wanted us to be. But I was wrong. And we are soulmates. And all it took was for Chris to point out this afternoon your mark was on your right arm, while mine is on the left. He realised before us, Buck. That’s why I brought the rose. It’s for you. I want to go on a dinner date with you. You’re my soulmate.”

Buck started blinking quickly, hoping to stop the tears from spilling. “Are you sure?”

“A thousand per cent Buck. I already had a crush on you and I’m so glad it’s true. So? Will you let me take you on a date tonight?”

Buck put the rose behind him on the counter and grabbed Eddie’s face with both hands. “Yes.” Then he kissed him, right in the middle of the shop. Luckily there were no other customers to complain about it. And if Buck couldn’t wait to go on his date with Eddie so he closed the shop an hour early? Well, he was sure the people would understand. After all, he just met his soulmate.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched 2.01 so many times to see when the first time Buck and Eddie would touch skin to skin would be, its not funny. in the end I made it but had to rewatch the scene like 10 times.


End file.
